Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-09-18
ApHENOMENALVOICE
tcornhillI

ment, the great Doremi. / am not q
musical man. but it was my privilege
once 10 hear the celebrated basso
Though / was unmusical, he made O
great impression on me never before
or SINCE has it been permitted me tc
hear such voice. IL was more thar
human al immense volume of sound
issued from that hair.enveloped mouth
and yet the feeling OF delight was not
quite unmixcd with awe, as one won
dercd whence such tremendou:
vocal thunder could come. The
great Doremi suddenly burst
upon the musical world n,
suddenly me disappeared. One night
an apology was made for him on the
ground of illness; the next day it was
reported that he had left Paris without
a word to his fmprcSOriO or his friends,
his engagement unfulfllod, leaving the
disconsolate manager with the certainty
Of ruin staring him in the face he had
trusted in his trump card, the great
Doremi, for a successful season. Sure
OF his one phenomenon, The rest OF his
company were mediOcrities With
these the critical and opulent Partisan
amateurs certainly weI not in a mood
to be iobbed OIL Long and acri-
monious correspondence ensued in
the daily papers; the manage
ment was tainted with It's mean
ness On not having secured the
great basso at any price. The indig-
nant imprcs0rio replied 10y Publishing
the terms oi DOremi's engagement ;
which showed remuneration so mag
nificent, a salary 80 gigantic, as TO tax
the credulity of even a Partisan public.
Then came letters, and more letters
articles inspired and uninspired then
the unanimous verdict was arrived at
that Doreni had insulted the hGbifUfs
OF the opera house and 1T was quite
certain, should the baSsO ever dare
again 10 show his face IN Paris, that
he would be Kissed off the boards
In France these matters, which
with MS are relegated TO professional
musical journals, become at times OF
such interest as to be almost national
questions ; and so it was in the case of
the missing basso. 4 scathing article
appeared IN one Of the serious jour
nails il was violent diatribe against
"those spoiled darlings of the public,
the great operate singers. Why should
these people delIaud the public Why
should they not fulfil their contracts ?
Why should they, without With your
leave or BY your leave, he licensed
swindlers ?" And the article concluded
by mentioning as the latest specimen of
this species of criminal the great Do
remi.
This was the climax Eat the mys-
terry now ended three days after the
article the following short note from
the basso appeared IN the great serious
newspaper IL loaded type:
" Mr Editor, ] regret TO have been
the innocent cause Of the dislppOint-
ment Of NY Kind patrons. have lost
NY voice This is my excuse.
"DoHENL"
For n icw days tha matter remained
town talk then it was gradually for
gotten, and for thirty years l heard no
thing more Of lhe great Doreml.
My family is large one their cdn-
cation has been expensive. Ny eldest
girl has-at Least, SD she and think -
a decided talent for languages; bat
although | dislike denying her
any hing, had drawn the line at
Italian. and had stcrnly refused TO In
cur any expense on that score. What,
then, was my a,tonishmCnt when
Bessie proceeded to construe--and
correctly. too chapter from Piociola !
But. correctly as she translated it, the
pronunciation was too terrible; and
delighted as 7 was at the surprise she
had prepared for me, the pleasure was
considerably alleged by the dreadful
insular accent, to which | was reluc-
family compelled to draw her attention.
"You must have some one to read
with. Bessie ! FASTENED to remark,
"as / noticed that her eyes filled with
tears "but some one cheap, my child,
We can't afford a real professor. "
This permission was sufficient reward
for Bessie, and few days later Signor
came, at an ahsurdly small remunem-
ton, to read with my daughter He
had been unearthed by the vicar of
our parish and was vouched for by him
as thoroughly respectable and one OF
his deserving poor.
BESSIE had received quarters IN
struction from the Siguor, ana a gentle
tap at my study door announced his ar
rival at my appointment to receive his
modest salary.
"COme ill.,.
The door opened and a stopping
figure entered the room. / motioned
him to a chair, and J thanked him for
the progress my daughter had made.
l pushed the little sum due him across
the table. Surely | had seen him
before. l told him so.
"Ah, possibly" said he, every pos
sibly. j have travelled much. THANK
you, sir
He seemed in hurry to 90, as he
rapidly gave me receipt forthem money.
Where could | have seen him? The
face was quite familiar. | returned
again to the subject, and asking him II
he could not remember when or where
We had net
"Ab, long ago, perhaps" he replied.
81 once had many friends; ali are lost
now. l salute you, sir
He rose to so.
1t might have been bis gesture, but
il came back to me at once 1t was the
great Doremi. "Of course ! remem-
Der now YOU are Doremi.
81 was, sir, once, but that Is long
ago."
/ begged him to be seated. After
some persuasion | gained my point.
Doremi seemed 10 thaw under the ge-
NAL warmth of my study fire. The
poor fellow was wrctchedly clad. With
extreme difficulty [ made him accept a
little help for present needs, and then
he told me his story, as follows;
81 began life as a gentleman, he
said, ga proud Italian gentleman; but
political troubles drove me from Italy,
and at two and twenty found myself
in London, pennies and friendless
not quite friendless, perhaps, for l
came across compatriot, former pro-
ts06 of mine-he was chorus singer
at the Italian opera in London. ! said
i was penniless, but had two posses
sions-my pride. which would not let
me beg, and my voice, which my friend
said would not let me starve. My
voice was nothing extraordinary, small,
but cultivated. An Italian, young. OF
fair STAGE urgSQucp and with a small